crowned Annonciade abbess, usually with cross and rosary, or holding the hand of the Christ Child, who is holding a basket; Annonciade abbess with basket of bread and cup of wine; with Father Gabriel Mary; having a ring placed on her finger by the Christ Child

Often away on royal duties, King Louis entrusted his daughters, Joan and Anne, to the Baron François de Linières and his wife, Anne de Culan. The couple, who were childless, lavished affection on Joan. Taking charge of her education, they had her taught both poetry and mathematics, painting, embroidery and how to play the lute. She was also taught the history of her ancestors.[citation needed]

The couple were also faithful Catholics and instilled in the members of their household a solid grounding in the faith. At a young age, her father asked her to name the confessor she wanted. She gave him the only name she knew, that of Friar Jean de La Fontaine, Guardian of the Franciscan friary in Amboise. The king approved her choice and appointed the friar to this post. Despite the distance between them, he would travel regularly to hear the princess's confession. Joan began to develop a strong pleasure in prayer, and would pass long periods in the castle chapel. The baron supported her in this and had a paved path between the castle and the chapel built for easier walking in poor weather. Under the friar's guidance she was admitted into the Third Order of St. Francis.[1]

In 1471 King Louis XI ordered the practice of praying the Hail Mary throughout the kingdom for peace. Joan had a strong attachment to this particular prayer, with its honoring Mary, mother of Jesus. She would later write that it was in that same year that she had received a prophecy from the Virgin Mary that before your death, you will found a religious Order in my honor. In doing this you will give me great joy and you will serve me.

King Louis died in 1483 and was succeeded by his son Charles, but as he was still a child, his sister, Anne de Beaujeu, was made Regent of the kingdom. By 1484, the duke had begun a series of military campaigns against the kingdom. This lasted until 1488, when he was taken captive by the royal forces. During this period, he fathered an illegitimate son, Michel de Bussy, who was later appointed the Bishop of Bourges. Joan administered his domain during his imprisonment, especially the Italian cities of Milan and Asti. Duke Louis was released in 1491. Within a few years, he accompanied King Charles in his military campaign in Italy.[2]

When Louis acceded to the throne in April 1498 after the accidental death of Joan's brother, King Charles VIII, he appealed to the pope to have the marriage annulled, in order to marry the late king's widow, Anne of Brittany, in the hope of annexing the Duchy of Brittany to the French Crown.

In what has been described as "one of the seamiest lawsuits of the age",[5] Louis did not, as might be expected, argue the marriage to be void due to consanguinity (the general excuse for the dissolution of a marriage at that time): though he could produce witnesses to claim that the two were closely related due to various linking marriages, there was no documentary proof, merely the opinions of courtiers. Likewise, Louis could not argue that he had been below the legal age of consent (fourteen) to marry: nobody was certain when he had been born, with Louis claiming to have been 12 at the time, and others ranging in estimates between eleven and thirteen. Since there was no proof, however, he was forced to make other excuses.

Accordingly, much to the horror of the queen, Louis claimed that she was physically malformed, providing a rich variety of detail as to how she was malformed, and that he had therefore been unable to consummate the marriage. Joan, unsurprisingly, fought this uncertain charge fiercely, producing witnesses to Louis boasting of having "mounted my wife three or four times during the night."[5] Louis also claimed that his sexual performance had been inhibited by witchcraft; Joan responded by asking how, in that case, he was able to know what it was like to try to make love to her.[6] Had the Pope been a neutral party, Joan would likely have won, for Louis's case was exceedingly weak. Unfortunately for the queen, Pope Alexander VI was committed for political reasons to grant the annulment, and accordingly he ruled against the Queen.[7]

The annulment was granted on the grounds that Louis did not freely marry but was forced to marry at the insistence of Joan's father. The annulment was declared on 15 December 1498. Joan stepped aside, saying that she would pray for her former husband. She was made Duchess of Berry and retired to Bourges, capital of the duchy.[8]

Once settled in her new domain, Joan confided to her spiritual director, the Blessed Gabriel Mary, O.F.M., [a] her call to monastic life. Supporting her in this venture, she began to make plans for the Order of the Virgin Mary, a new enclosed religious order dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It was established as an independent branch of the Poor Clares. By May 1500 she had received 11 postulants, the nucleus of the new Order. The Rule of Life she had written for the Order was approved on 12 February 1502 by Pope Alexander. Construction of the first monastery was begun the following year. On Pentecost Sunday 1504, Joan and Friar Gabriel Mary made private commitments to follow the Rule, and thereby established themselves as co-founders of the Order. On 21 November of that same year, Feast of the Presentation of Mary, Joan and the other women publicly and legally committed themselves to the Order.[2]

Joan died on 4 February 1505 and was buried in the chapel of the Annonciade monastery. Her grave, however, was desecrated and her body, found to be incorrupt at that time, was burned by the Huguenots during their sack of Bourges on 27 May 1562.[9] Soon after her death, miracles and healings attributed to her were said to have occurred. The cause for her canonization was begun in 1631 and Pope Benedict XIVbeatified her on 21 April 1742. She was canonized on 28 May 1950[10] by Pope Pius XII.[11]

The nuns of the Order of the Virgin Mary still maintain their way of life in monasteries in France, Belgium, Costa Rica and Poland. The Religious Sisters serve in Belgium, Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France and Guatemala.[2]

^André Vauchez, Michael Lapidge, "Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages: A-J", p.776, 2000 : "Infirm from birth, she was obliged by her father, Louis XI, to marry her cousin, Louis of Orleans. The king wished, by a union considered sterile, to extinguish this rival collateral dynasty."

^"The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, Volume 33", p.42, 1854: "Louis XI compelled him to marry his deformed and sterile daughter Joan, threatening him with death by drowning, if he refused."